Family faces grief, challenges after 6 kids lose both parents in double murder-suicide in SJ
SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- Police are trying to help six San Jose children who lost both parents in a double murder-suicide over the weekend.
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The family members who have taken them in are facing both unimaginable loss and a major unexpected financial burden.
Police say a father and mother of six children were arguing near Crescent Village Circle with the kids present.
23-year-old Marco Carral Duran, a security guard, tried to intervene.
That's when the father shot Duran, shot the mother and then himself.
The children witnessed it, their aunt Maria Chanon, says that she believes that the security guard bought the kids the time they needed to run away.
VIDEO: 'Such a good heart': Family mourns SJ security guard killed in double murder-suicide
"The oldest one who saw the whole incident, she still cries," Chanon said, "She can't understand why her father would do that."
The mother, is identified by family as Erica Pantoja, her sister says that Pantoja had to call police on her husband multiple times who she was separated from.
"She was trying to file for divorce, she was living by herself working for her children," Chanon said, "She was trying to be better off because she knew how he was but at the end it still didn't matter."
Now, the six children who range from 10 years old to 1-year-old will be taken care of by Chanon, their other aunt and grandmother.
"We visited with the family yesterday and maternal grandmother and six kids" said Sgt. Christian Camarillo with the San Jose Police Department, "It's a two bedroom apartment right now, obviously, they've outgrown it overnight, adding six kids to a two bedroom apartment."
The San Jose Police Officer's Association has set up a link for people to help donate to the family.
The Chapel of Flowers, a San Jose Funeral home helped the family receive a plot to bury Erica Pantoja.
Aside from the financial toll the family members are trying to cope with, they're also dealing with their own grief and helping the children process the traumatic experience they witnessed but Chanon says despite the challenges that they face, the children will be taken care of.
"They don't have a mom or a dad, but they have me, my mom, my other sister," Chanon said, "We're trying the best that we can to take care of them and to move on."
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